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How Should We Conduct Ourselves in the Morning?

Chapter 1 from How to Live a Holy Life

by Metropolitan Gregory of St. Petersburg (1784-1860)

In the morning, conduct yourself in the following manner:

1. Upon awakening, try first of all to direct your thoughts to the Lord God. Directing
our thoughts to the Lord God should be our most natural activity at every other
time of the day as well, because there is absolutely no one who could be so necessary
for us, so dear and precious for us as God. For absolutely everything that we have
now and that we have ever had, including even our very being—absolutely everything
is a gift of God. The person who is the most needed, the most precious, the dearest
of all for us is the one who usually first comes to our minds in the morning. As
soon as we wake up in the morning, the thought of whoever or whatever is the most
needed and dear to us wakes up as well. This always happens in the natural course
of things. Therefore, it is always natural for our thoughts to turn first of all
to the Lord God with some heartfelt appeal, such as “Glory to Thee, O Lord! Glory
to Thee, O All-Merciful One!” We would be unworthy of the name of Christian if,
waking from sleep, we were to open only our physical eyes, and not our spiritual
ones, and were to think first of the earth and of earthly things, and not of the
Lord God.

2. If the time at which you woke is the time at which or near which you should get
up, then without any delay say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit,” while making the sign of the cross. And then, “Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

3. Right after this, or at the same time, get out of bed. Getting out of bed quickly
is often very unpleasant for our flesh, because our flesh, like a lazy servant,
always likes to lie and sleep or to luxuriate and remain idle. Every single morning
act against the base desires of your flesh. Let this opposition to the flesh be
your first sacrifice to the Lord God. Among other reasons, quickly getting up in
the morning is very beneficial for the soul because (as all those who fervently
strive for salvation have long observed) when we lie in bed for a long time after
waking, impure tendencies very easily arise in our bodies, and impure thoughts and
desires in our souls. Later in the day these easily cause the careless to fall into
serious sins and into great danger of losing their salvation. But whoever bravely
opposes the wishes of his flesh in the morning will resist temptations besetting
him during the day and evening, even very serious ones. But if you have been watching
after yourself to any degree, you already know this.

4. Having risen from bed, wash immediately, and having washed, dress immediately
in a way that befits a respectable person. It is necessary to get dressed immediately
like this in the morning, although there may be no one with us, because:

First, we never are completely alone; always and everywhere our Guardian Angel and
the Lord God are with us. Our Guardian Angel, if we ourselves do not drive him away
from us, is always with us, and the Lord God unquestionably is always with us by
His very essence, because He is an omnipresent God. For in him we live, and move,
and have our being, says the holy apostle (Acts 17:28).

Second, after having woken and washed, we should immediately stand before the Lord
God with our morning prayers. And we would never dare to appear before even any
of our lower-ranking earthly bosses without having dressed properly.

And finally, if you have dressed decently immediately after sleep, you will guard
yourself from two dangers to which unfortunately very many people are subjected
in our times, namely: from the danger of causing temptation for others and from
the danger of becoming infected with the spirit of shamelessness. My friend, what
can we expect in midday and evening from one who is shameless even in the morning?

5. After having washed and dressed, stand before the holy icons and say those morning
prayers as specified and in the order specified by the Holy Church, the interpreter
and guardian of the path to salvation. So that you may pray unimpeded, especially
if you do not know how to read, learn by heart at least the beginning morning prayers.
Is this difficult? And how could you not know by heart even the Lord’s Prayer, that
is, the prayer “Our Father, Who art in the heavens.” Learn it! Th is is the most
important prayer and most salvific for all occasions.

6. Because of our long familiarity with them, prayers learned by heart or read from
a book are sometimes said without due attention to their contents, and we therefore
are actually not praying, but just dreaming that we are praying. For this reason
we may pray at times using words other than those of the prayers that are prepared
and designated by the Holy Church. But when you pray this way, always carefully
observe the following:

a.) Thank the Lord God that He preserved your life during the past night and is
again giving you time for repentance and amendment of your life, for each new day
is for us a new and not in the least bit deserved favor from God, because no new
day automatically follows after night. Very many people, having quietly gone to
sleep in the evening, have awakened not in this life, but in another one: eternity.
Is it really that difficult for a person to lose his life? Sometimes even a mild
fright can cause us to die. Not one night passes without many people dying during
it. What preeminence do we have over those who have died in the past night? Could
we not also die? Yes, we could, very easily. But who has preserved us from death,
if not the All-good and All-merciful God, Who continuously awaits our repentance
and amendment of our lives? He preserved us and has granted us a new day, that we
might save our souls. So, can we not give thanks to the Lord God? Each morning thank
Him with all your soul, like this, for example: “My Lord God and King! I thank Thee
that during the the past night Thou hast preserved my life and that Thou hast again
granted me time for repentance and amendment of my life. Many, many people have
been deprived of their earthly lives in the past night. The day that is beginning
is not an inevitable day in my life. It is beginning only because Thou art giving
it to me because of Thine unspeakable mercy. I could easily have died in the past
night. But Thou, O All-good One, hast saved me and hast given me a new day, that
I might save my soul. I thank Thee with all my heart, O All-merciful One.”

b.) Thank God for the other benefactions that you have received from Him. Thank
Him that He created you, preserves you, redeemed you, brought you to the true faith,
and in the true faith has provided you and continues to provide you with all means
for salvation. All these benefactions are exceedingly great and deserving of unceasing
and profound gratitude. Would you have felt the joy of life if the Lord God had
not created you? Would you be alive now, if He had not preserved your life? What
would happen to us if He had not redeemed us? How miserable we would be if He had
not brought us into the true faith and in this way provided us with all the means
for salvation! Even now, having the true faith and all the means for salvation,
we are very miserable. How miserable, then, we would be without the true faith.
Thank the Lord God incessantly and with all your soul, like this for example: “Lord
God, My Father and King, I thank You that You have created me, have preserved me,
have called me to the true faith, and in the true faith have provided and continue
to provide me with all means for salvation. Would I feel the joy of life if You
had not created me? Would I be alive now, if You had not preserved my life? What
would have happened to me if You had not redeemed me? How miserable I would be if
You had not brought me into the true faith and not provided me thus with all the
means for salvation! I thank You with all my soul, All-Good and All-Merciful One.”

c.) Thank the Lord God that, having provided you with all the means for salvation,
He also unceasingly disposes you to use those means, and in spite of your frequent
recalcitrance, in spite of the frequent grief that you cause Him, in spite of all
your stubbornness, He does not punish you by depriving you of His great gift—life,
but continues to call you and by various means disposes you to salvation. Oh, how
long our bodies and souls would already be burning in the eternal fire of hell if
the Lord God had not been so very merciful and longsuffering towards us. Thank the
Lord with all your soul.

d.) Thank the Lord God that during the past night He deigned to strengthen your
bodily powers and granted you the possibility to engage again in necessary and useful
secular affairs. How many people because of various infirmities cannot acquire their
daily subsistance. How many because of various illnesses cannot make the most necessary
movements and constantly serve as a burden to others and to themselves. Thank the
Lord God from all your heart for strengthening your bodily powers.

e.) After this pray with all your soul that the Lord God may forgive your innumerable
sins, whether they were done in deed, intention, desire, or even only in thought.
Never omit this prayer: you are always very sinful in the sight of the Lord God.
In this regard not a single person should deceive himself. For in many things we
off end all, the holy apostle says in the Spirit of God (James 3:2). And if we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, another holy
apostle says in the same Spirit (I John 1:8).

f.) Pray that the Lord God may give you a firm, unalterable will to belong always
and completely to Him, our constant Benefactor, from this day forward. This means
to always consider the fulfilment of His will as our most important priority and
to constantly try to live in complete accord with His holy will and therefore to
try most zealously and above all else to discern His holy will, which in relation
to us is basically always the same: our holiness (I Thess. 4:3), and the salvation
of our souls (I Thess. 5:9; 2 Thess. 2:13).

7. That you may be able to keep yourself from sin more surely in the course of the
coming day, try while it is still morning to think over everything that may happen
to you during the day.

Try to examine what you are going to do and with whom you will spend time. What
occasions of sin might you encounter? When and where? What opportunities for good
might you encounter? When and where? Might you not have certain temptations, for
example from your vainglory, from your pride, from your anger, and so on? Having
examined everything this way, try at once to think over thoroughly how you can most
easily and surely pass the whole day without sin, how to deal irreproachably with
such and such a person, how to make good use of whatever opportunities for good
we may encounter, how to avoid whatever occasions and temptations to sin or, if
there is no possibility of avoiding them, how to handle oneself without harm in
these occasions and temptations. For example, if you see that you will have to spend
time with and work on something with a hot-tempered person, then you should try
in advance to think of how to conduct yourself in his presence so meekly and politely
that you will in no way provoke his anger, but remain at peace with him. Without
such a forearming of ourselves against sin it is impossible, or at least extremely
difficult, to protect oneself from sin and to follow the Lord’s teaching without
faltering. Whoever does not make a firm resolution and effort each morning to preserve
himself from sin during the coming day never diligently keeps himself from sin and
little by little may finally abandon not only diligence, but the very desire and
even the thought of obligation to preserve himself from sin. If the wick of a lampada
is not adjusted and oil poured into the lampada every day, the lampada cannot burn
constantly and soon will go out. My friend, do not forget this forearming against
sin, which is very necessary every morning. When you really try to preserve yourself
from every sin and keep to a God-pleasing and holy life, then you will soon see
for yourself the great need and salutary effects of this forearming.

8. So that you may even more easily and securely lead a holy life, pray to the Lord
God that He may bless to grant you constant consciousness and zeal to avoid the
occasions of sin, and especially of that sin to which you are most inclined by nature
or habit. Because such a sin strongly induces each of us to satisfy its demand,
and all of us who are still not fully devoted to God usually satisfy it so willingly
that when we encounter obstacles to fulfilling it, we try with all our strength
to eliminate those obstacles and to clear the way to satisfy that sin unhindered
and, as much as possible, without delay. It is very difficult for a person to protect
himself from such a sin, and our age-old enemy attacks us from nowhere so often,
so insolently, and so confidently as from the direction of our favorite, habitual
sin. Pray with all your soul.

9. Having thus examined and thought over everything necessary for protecting yourself
from sin and anchoring yourself in a God-pleasing life, again pray in your heart
to the Lord God that He may strengthen your will and your powers and not allow you
to weaken, as you have so often weakened before. Without such a prayer expressed
in these or other words, do not on any day engage in any matter for any reason,
except perhaps a reason completely out of your control. How can we set about any
matter without the blessing of God? Without God’s blessing all our labors are in
vain. But God’s blessing, like every gift of God, is obtained only by prayer (James
1:17). True, the Lord God in His infinite goodness often gives success in their
affairs also to people who do not pray or even are impious. Do not take mind of
this. When this thought comes to mind, think immediately about the fearsome fate
of the rich man mentioned in the Gospel, who loved to make merry sumptuously every
day (Luke 16:19-32). In his life he had success in everything, never felt the slightest
need, and had all the means for satisfying his sensual passions and always satisfied
them fully. But this way of life, after his death, plunged him into the torments
of hell. And when he, being horribly tormented in the fl ames, wretchedly implored
Abraham for relief of his torments, he was refused, and the refusal consisted of
words that the fortunate of this world should all remember keenly every minute.
The refusal was as follows: Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy
good things ... but now ... thou art tormented (Luke 16:25).

10. One should pray like this especially in the morning, and one should make such
a resolution and take such prudent measures in the morning. No other time is so
appropriate for prayer and for all good undertakings as the morning, because at
no other time is a person so capable of prayer, or of undertaking business, or of
reflection as in the morning. In the morning, his thoughts are much less constricted,
his heart is purer, and he can contain himself much more easily than at any another
time. In the morning the necessities of life are not yet bothering us, the passions
are still sleeping, and the very nature surrounding us disposes us to a serious
and reflective state. With the passing of morning the passions awaken, everyday
needs appear and stir up cares, a person begins work and toils like a slave who
must always eat bread in the sweat of [his] face. My friend, spend the morning in
prayer and in the holy guidance of your life. Put a high value on the morning of
every day. Be wise, for the Spirit of God portrays the behavior of a wise man thus:
He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and will pray
before the most High (Ecclesiasticus 39:5).

11. After praying thus, sit down and in reverence towards the Lord God unhurriedly
and thoroughly consider how you should conduct yourself during the coming day in
relation to the Lord God, to your neighbors, and to your particular position in
the world. And if on some mornings something hinders you from engaging in such reflection,
then in any case always do it every Sunday and holy day morning: on these days nothing
can and should be a hindrance for you. Our flesh, injured by the ancestral sin,
is in close touch with our age-old enemy, the devil, and together with him continually
tries to erase our Christian duties from our memory and to revive in their place
various rules of the world and, at the same time or even before, to revive various
means of satisfying its passions. To our misfortune, they succeed very often and
very easily. Do not listen to these pernicious teachers, and by all means possible
try each morning to remind yourself of your spiritual obligations, as they are laid
on you by the Lord God, and again make the firm resolution to fulfil them more exactly
and diligently.

From How to Live a Holy Life, by Metropolitan Gregory of St. Petersburg
(1784-1860), pp. 9-20. Published by the Printshop of St. Job of Pochaev, Holy Trinity
Monastery, 2005. Excerpt posted with permission. Posted on 10 Mar, 2006 (n.s.).

Other chapter topics include: How Should We Conduct Ourselves in Relation to the
Lord God? In relationship to other people? In Some of the Most Common Situations
of Life?: Happiness, Misfortune, Wealth, Poverty, When People Praise Us, When People
Speak Evil of Us, In Illness, etc. How to Protect Ourselves from the Harmful Effect
of Bad Example. How Should We Conduct Ourselves in Our Daily Work? During Meals?
During Rest After Lunch? In the Evening? Before Sleep? During Sleeplessness at Night?
The Most Important Thing Concerning Prayer. How Should We Spend Sundays?